The Mission
by Intuition
Summary: Temari always did like a challenge. Too bad she didn't foresee the consequences.


Standard Disclaimers Apply

Warnings: Maybe some OOC-ness in the Shikamaru/Temari interaction but I'm going to justify that with them having been friends for a very long time. Takes place ten years after current manga chapters. Spoilers up to chapter 516.

-i-

Temari was furious.

And confused. And mortified. But mostly furious.

She was going to kill her brother, Kazekage or not. Just what the hell was he thinking? Actually, Temari didn't want to know what thought process could possibly have led him to give Temari _this_ particular type of mission.

A mission that was nowhere near her area of expertise.

A mission that was so far out of her area of expertise that there was no way Gaara would ever consider her for it.

Except that he had, which meant that he thought she should... that she should…

Temari shuddered, she didn't need to finish that thought since there was no way she was doing this mission.

If Kankuro had been the one to give her this mission she would have laughed and then socked him for the implications. If it was Kankuro (not that he would be assigning her missions anyway) then she would have known with certainty that this was a joke and shrugged it off.

But it was Gaara. And Gaara never joked.

Temari stormed into the Kazekage towers and made a beeline towards Gaara's office, ignoring Matsuri who had stood up in surprise from her desk outside of Gaara's office. Temari slammed his door open and stomped over to his desk, pulling out the scroll and shaking it in his face.

"What," she seethed, "is the meaning of this?"

Despite the clear rage emitting from Temari, Gaara calmly looked up from his paperwork, pen stopping mid-sentence to appraise his sister. He blinked once but otherwise, his face remained impassive.

"What is the meaning of what?"

Temari practically threw the mission scroll at his head. Screw etiquette. She would not have her younger brother treating her this way.

Gaara skimmed through the scroll to see exactly what it was that had Temari so angry.

"Hmm…" he said as he read, "why do you have this?" He looked up, with a slight quizzical look on his face.

He asked so genuinely and innocently, without a hint of teasing or reprimand, that Temari faltered a bit in her anger.

Getting her bearings, Temari gaped at Gaara incredulously, "Because that's the mission you assigned me!"

She was not going to let this go.

Gaara gave her a confused look, "No, this mission is for Tomoyo."

"Then why do I have it?"

Gaara shrugged, "must've gotten mixed up somehow."

Temari waited for him to continue.

When he didn't, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Dealing with Gaara could be taxing sometimes. He never spoke more than necessary. Actually, he never spoke enough when it _was_ necessary.

"That's it? It got 'mixed-up somehow'?"

"What more can I say? It shouldn't have happened."

"Damn straight it shouldn't have happened!"

Temari could see the earnestness in Gaara's face. He clearly didn't do this on purpose. All the fight left Temari in one slow exhale as she sat down slowly on one of the plush chairs across from Gaara's desk.

"Well then, that's good," she said with finality. It was mid-day and the blazing desert sunlight was streaming through the floor to ceiling windows in Gaara's office. The rays of sunshine illuminated the floating dust particles and ended right where he and Temari sat. The normally dull natural highlights in Temari's hair shone brightly wherever the sun's rays touched it. Temari turned her head towards the sunlight and gazed out the window.

"I don't have another mission for you right now," Gaara said when it was clear that Temari wasn't going to leave anytime soon.

Temari nodded slowly, only half listening to Gaara and contemplating something else.

A bizarre thought had occurred to Temari and under normal circumstances she would have shook her head and considered herself insane for entertaining the idea or at least checked in with a mental health professional.

But…

Now that she considered it, did Gaara think that she couldn't handle this type of mission? No matter that it was given to her accidentally?

Wasn't she just raging a moment ago that Gaara would never in his right mind assign her something like this? So why was she still thinking about it?

Temari snapped her head back to Gaara, who had returned to his paperwork, having given up on trying to get his sister to leave. Not that he had really tried that hard.

"You don't think I can do this kind of mission," she accused him.

Gaara took a deep breath. He knew where this was going, mostly because he encountered this sort of behavior from Kankuro all the time. Normally, Kankuro was the one that gave him a hard time about the missions assigned him and as Kankuro was the Kazekage's older brother, he tended to use that privilege whenever possible. Temari, on the other hand, tended to do her duty without complaint.

Gaara looked at his sister intently, "You're a battle kunoichi Temari, you don't do subtlety. Of course this is not the type of mission for you."

"But let's say, for argument's sake, that I was to carry out this mission, do you not think that I could be successful?"

"Are you telling me that you want to do this mission?" Gaara was almost incredulous but Gaara didn't do incredulous. His scope of emotions ran from stoic to angst with maybe a mild degree of concern mixed in for his family and village.

Temari just stared at Gaara. She hadn't really considered _actually_ doing the mission.

"Do you doubt that I can do it?" Temari demanded.

Gaara's immediate thought was, yes, most definitely. But he knew that answer just led down to a road of pain and misery and whereas he knew that Temari could never beat him in a fight, she could make his life a living hell if she wanted to.

"You've never trained for this kind of mission," Gaara said slowly, cautiously, lest he anger the wild beast.

"Is there a time constraint on the mission?"

Gaara blinked at the sudden question, "I would like to have the information within a month's time."

"Fine," Temari said, standing up, "I'll train for three weeks and then go on the mission." She reached over the table to take the mission scroll.

Gaara hastily snatched up the scroll and moved it out of Temari's reach. Now he really did look incredulous.

"I'm not giving you this mission."

"Yes," Temari said icily, "you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are!"

Gaara vaguely wondered how he had gotten into such a childish argument with Temari over a mission that was most decidedly not childish.

"If I had never come here asking how this mission got assigned to me, we wouldn't even be having this conversation!"

'_And the mission probably would've been a failure_,' Gaara thought wryly. Either Gaara was not as stoic as he liked to appear or Temari had gotten very good at reading the slight subtleties of his facial features because the next thing she said was, "You really don't think I can do this!"

Gaara decided to remain silent. Clearly continuing this conversation in the first place had been a huge mistake.

"Look, Gaara," Temari said placidly, "I know I'm your sister and you have never thought of me as someone," here Temari paused, carefully choosing her next few words, "as someone that may have any experience doing…" Temari took a deep breath. This was not a topic of conversation that she ever broached with any sincerity with either of her brothers. It was just taboo.

And thankfully, Gaara interrupted her before she could continue, "That's not the only reason."

Temari tilted her head in confusion, "Well, what other reason could there be?"

"Do you really think I would send _my sister_ on such a mission?"

Temari blinked.

_Oh._

Then she narrowed her eyes. "I can protect myself Gaara, I _am_ a battle kunoichi."

"Exactly," he said, "which could only jeopardize the mission. How far are you willing to go before using brute force? And do you really think I would want you to go that far?" Gaara looked away; this conversation was quickly becoming too uncomfortable for him.

Temari considered this; he did have a point after all.

"So it's okay for Tomoyo but not for me?"

"She was trained for it and she knows the possibilities."

"_I_ know the possibilities."

"And unfortunately so do I," Gaara said darkly.

"I want the mission Gaara."

"Just moments ago you were ready to cleave my head off because you thought I assigned you this mission."

"Well, that was before I realized you don't trust my abilities."

Gaara's eye twitched. Kami, not only was this conversation just going in circles but he was pretty sure this was also the longest conversation he had ever had with Temari. He was also sure his blood pressure was through the roof. He had thought only Kankuro had the distinct pleasure of doing that to him.

Gaara played the one card he knew that Temari would have no argument against.

"Temari, the information this person has is vital to Suna. Nothing can go wrong on this mission. Surely, you would not want a mission for which you are not prepared."

"I would never do anything to jeopardize Suna."

"Exactly," Gaara sighed, relieved that he had finally gotten through to her. He knew she would see reason.

"Which is why I should be the one who takes this mission."

Gaara looked at her, disappointed.

"If this mission is as vital as you say, then you need a battle kunoichi doing the job. And it's not even a life-threatening mission so you have no reason to be concerned. In fact, you have less of a reason than normal."

Gaara opened his mouth to protest so Temari continued in a rush, holding up her hand, "Don't you dare say anything about my honor or Kami help me, I will wring your neck."

"Gaara," she repeated, "give me this mission."

Gaara didn't say anything for a full minute, staring his sister down even though he was still sitting at his desk and she was standing over it. Temari did not back down. Gaara's jaw clenched, having reached a decision.

"Okay," he said in defeat, handing her the mission scroll. When she reached for it Gaara moved his arm away again. Temari growled in annoyance. Gaara ignored her. "Don't go to Izumi-san to be trained, you're going to need Chisako-san."

Temari scrunched up her face in confusion, "Chisako-san is retired."

Gaara stared at her as if she had just told him that Suna is a desert.

"Fine," Temari said, reaching for the scroll again. Gaara handed it over with no further instructions.

Temari didn't smile in triumph once she had the scroll in her hand. She merely gave him a determined nod and left his office.

After shutting the door, Temari leaned against it and swallowed.

Shit, what had she and her stupid feminine pride just gotten herself into?

-i-

Shikamaru leaned his head against the cushioned back of the booth he and Chouji were currently occupying, lackadaisically swirling his drink in his hand. He couldn't even bother to keep his eyes open to watch the group of women on stage performing some sort of fan dance. This mission was beyond boring and ridiculously routine that he was planning on taking nap through it. With his time completely engaged working as a code-breaker, top strategist for Konoha, Jounin teacher of three annoying and way too energetic genins, Nara clan leader, making time to see his former teacher's daughter and finally, lap dog to the unreasonably demanding Ambassador of Suna, Shikamaru had no time for his two most precious activities: cloud gazing and napping. He had tried getting Asuma's daughter to enjoy those two activities with him but Kurenai had gotten mad at him for encouraging her daughter to be lazy like him. And so that had been the end to his last resort in finding time to cloud watch and nap. Although, if he could convince her, Temari sometimes agreed to lying out on the field with him, but that was so rare that he didn't even consider that as a substitute for true napping/cloud watching time.

He really had too much on his plate all because of all the women that surrounded him. Seriously, no man should have this many women dominating his life. When he had taken on three genins he had been afraid that somehow, this year there would be more females than normal and that he would end up being the leader of the only team with two females.

Thankfully that did not happen and he tried not to think of what he would have done if it had.

He was convinced Kami-sama was against him. All the men in his life kept dying and the number of women kept increasing. He had hoped that Asuma's kid would be a boy merely so he could have a partner to help him fight against the female wiles. As it was, he only had Chouji who was more of a pushover than he was.

He only really complained about all this to Temari which was incredibly stupid of him because she only told him to get over it because if he didn't she would make sure he had more work, which of course he didn't think was physically possible. The reason he even had so much to do was because of her anyway.

Damn woman.

She always did know that he was complaining for no reason, it was just a habit that he had no intention of letting go. He had a lot of titles, but none of the roles actually took over his life. He was one of Konoha's top strategists only when called upon, which since the war, thankfully, hadn't been too often. Being a code-breaker barely took any effort and surprisingly neither did being a clan leader. Although, he was sure that had more to do with his mother having always done more of the work even when his dad was alive. He would never admit it, but he loved teaching his three young brats. It was something he was good at, breaking down complex ideas into simple terms. He knew that he wanted to continue teaching in some form in the future, preferably to older students so he wouldn't have to babysit half the time.

However, all those things aside, being with Sumi, Asuma's daughter, and Temari was most definitely a chore. Those two women were the most troublesome human beings in his life, especially since Sumi had started to take after Temari more and more. How the hell had that happened? And it was only around him too. She was a perfect angel to Kurenai so Kurenai had no idea. Kurenai's former genin team as well as Chouji and Ino spoiled the girl endlessly. And they never said no to her either. Shino less so than everyone else but that was only because Sumi was scared of him so she never asked him for anything.

Temari never had a problem disciplining her since Sumi hung onto her every word and did everything Temari asked. It was only Shikamaru that had to deal with Sumi's stubbornness which he was sure she picked up from Temari. He really needed to stop letting Temari walk all over him when Sumi was around.

Thinking of Temari, he wondered when he would see her again. It had been a few months already, the longest they had been apart since they had started dating. He knew dating her was a bad idea. They both knew it and that's why they had resisted for so many years. Shikamaru had only admitted it to himself that he may care about the Sunan temptress more than was healthy after the war but even that hadn't motivated him to make a move. It was too troublesome. She lived three days away. Significant others who lived three hours away had a hard time maintaining a long distance relationship, how in the world could he and Temari do it with three day separating them?

And then there were her brothers who would kill him in an instant if he ever remotely hurt Temari. Yes, somehow he had formed an odd sort of friendship with them throughout the war having been a commander and forced to work closely with Gaara, but that didn't mean they weren't overprotective of Temari. Not that she needed the protection, but it was almost as if they were trying to make up for the time before Suna's invasion of Konoha when they had mistreated each other.

Not only that but being the daughter of the previous Kazekage and sister of the current Kazekage only made it almost impossible to date her without Suna's council breathing down his neck. They still did not approve of the relationship and the only reason they hadn't made a huge fuss is because, one, Temari is a force to be reckoned with and two, he hadn't asked Temari to marry him. He knew there would be opposition on all sides when that happened. Including from Temari. Shikamaru stopped that thought process before he became depressed over it. He really was in too deep if he was considering marrying the most troublesome woman he had ever met. Actually, probably the most troublesome woman that had ever existed.

As if all those things weren't troublesome enough, Temari was also way out of his league. She was drop dead gorgeous, incredibly intelligent with a wicked tongue. She could have anyone she wanted. He really had no idea why she was with him. Probably because he let her kick him around. She was far bossier and far more stubborn than Ino and his mother combined and he had always bent to their wills easily. He really had no chance against Temari.

Even with all these things, nothing seemed to deter him from her. He had tried, put up a valiant effort, he had even known that she liked him (she had known that he liked her as well) and he still resisted. It just wasn't worth the effort or trouble that he would get.

And he knew that she was resisting too. They were just way too sensible and practical that they knew friendship was the only thing for them. They had both even dated other people in an effort to get over their feelings for each other. They were so aware of each other that they had openly and honestly discussed the possibility, coming to the conclusion that any sort of relationship would only end badly since it wouldn't just be the two of them; it would be Konoha and Suna as wellS. Besides, they had now been friends for over a decade. Why ruin a good thing?

It was no use.

He had actually expected Temari to jump him years ago especially during the times when the sexual frustration between them became palpable. But he had underestimated her will and really it was a good thing that she didn't do anything impulsive which was usually in her nature. The fact that she hadn't though, is what made him realize that he wasn't the only one that was in way too deep. If it was just sex, they could have gotten it out of their systems and been done with it. It was that fact that gave him the courage to make the first move.

"I give up," were the first words out of his mouth the moment Temari was within hearing range. The words came out before he could stop himself. He was leaning against the entrance to Konoha, waiting for her arrival as always.

Temari gave him a quizzical look. "What are you talking about?"

Shikamaru straightened up and approached her with a determined step to his gait. "I give up," he repeated, stupidly. Oh well, there was no turning back now.

"What, just like the chuunin exams?" Temari asked, confused and half-joking even though she was starting to get wary of the look in his eyes.

Shikamaru grasped her arm right about the elbow, his smoldering dark eyes focused onto her own cerulean ones. Alarm bells rang in Temari's head and she tensed up immediately, eyes widening.

She brought up her other hand to help maintain some distance between them. Shikamaru's other arm went to her waist, bringing her closer.

"Crybaby, what ar-mmphf."

This kiss wasn't very good. In fact, it was probably the worst kiss Temari had ever received, made worse by the fact that she was pushing against his chest and turning her head to avoid it.

Shikamaru didn't let go but did stop kissing her, looking down at her with a frown on his face. Temari didn't attempt to get out of his hold, mostly because she was too shocked that he had even attempted to kiss her in the first place. She had never thought he would have the balls to try to kiss her. If either one of them were going to make a move, she had always assumed that it would be her. Probably. If she was horny. And drunk. With only him in her presence. She did have some self-control, after all.

Temari could feel herself starting to shake. What the hell was wrong with her? Why was she shaking? But her eyes were still wide and had taken on a surprisingly vulnerable look. She felt the hand on her arm grasping her tighter, Shikamaru's eyes narrowing on hers, "I can't do this anymore."

"Can't do what anymore?" Temari almost cursed herself for how weak her voice sounded. Shikamaru's jaw clenched, his jaw muscle popping out at the tension. Temari didn't like this. The situation was quickly getting out of her control and why was Shikamaru behaving like this out of nowhere? They had already reached an agreement about the status of their relationship, why was he trying to rock the boat?

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Temari ripped herself from his grip but Shikamaru merely held on tighter. She glared up at him, any trace of vulnerability gone, "Let me go right now before I hurt you."

"No." The hand at her elbow slowly moved up her arm to rest at neck and the arm at her waist snaked around her to bring her even closer. The palm of the hand between them now rest on his chest and Temari couldn't help but shiver at the feel of his arms on her and the determined look he was giving her. She brought the palm of her other hand to rest on his chest in case she needed to push him away again.

"No, I'm tired of this Temari. I can't do this anymore. I thought I could, but I can't."

"Don't do this Shikamaru," Temari warned.

"We're not kids anymore, so let's be mature about this."

"Yes," Temari agreed, "let's be mature about this and stop anything from happening because we can't, Shikamaru. I thought you were smart enough to know that. Nothing can happen between us." She gave him a warning look but Shikamaru completely ignored her, closing his eyes and bringing his forehead to rest against Temari's as she tensed up again at the movement. "It's a little too late for that, don't you think."

Temari couldn't help but feel a little ambushed. Where the hell was all this coming from? They had seen each other only two weeks ago when Shikamaru was in Suna, passing through from another mission he had had. He hadn't given any inclination that he was planning on making a move.

"Why are you doing this? What brought this on?"

"Heh," he gave a dry laugh, willing himself to be patient with this frustrating woman. He took a deep breath and looked up at the sky to gather his thoughts before releasing the breath slowly and returning his gaze, studying her. He wanted to shake her and scream at her and tell her that years and years of being in love with her and knowing that she loved him as well is what brought _this_ on. Instead, he said lightly, "I've just had a lot of time to think recently."

Temari smiled a little, "Well, that's always dangerous when it comes to you."

He knew what she was doing. She was trying to navigate the conversation back to familiar ground, with them teasing each other and filtering a little but never coming close to anything significant. He wasn't going to let her run away from this again. He pulled back slightly so he could get a better look at Temari, a smirk on his face, "you know, we're pretty much in a relationship anyway, without the perks."

"Ass. Is that what this is? You want the perks?" Temari scoffed, acting offended but not pulling away from him again.

Shikamaru smiled inwardly, she could be so predictable in her anger.

"I want everything," he told her seriously, his eyes boring into hers. Temari swallowed, damn, she really should've seen this coming.

"Shikamaru…"

"You can't honestly tell me that you don't care about me."

Temari let out a noise of frustration, "We've already discussed this ad nauseam!"

"I think we should discuss this again and reach a different conclusion, preferably one that ends with me marrying you one day."

Temari felt her face turn bright red instantly. The asshole! As if she would ever marry him. Especially after the stunt he was pulling right now. Didn't he know who he was talking to? She wanted to curse at him but all that came out was some indignant sputtering. It didn't help that Shikamaru had started to mess with the short strands of hair at the base of her neck that weren't long enough to fit into her ponytails. Temari willed herself not to shiver at his touch. Finally, when Temari could speak coherently, she forced out through clenched teeth, "I thought we were done with this."

"Clearly we aren't."

"What do you mean '_clearly'_," Temari demanded.

"It means that neither you nor I have dated anyone_… in years_. But we've always made a point to be with each other. Just try and tell me that this is normal behavior."

"What does that matter? You and I… we can't ever be together. There's too much standing between us. What are we supposed to do? Have a fling and then never see each other again? You're…" Temari bit her lip, stopping abruptly and shifting her gaze down to look at her hands on Shikamaru's chest. She started to mess with one of the pockets of his jounin vest. Shit, she was never good with the emotional crap and Shikamaru always knew how to bring them out. Any emotion, it didn't matter. Shikamaru was quite possibly the only person that had seen most of her full range of emotions and she'd be damned before he saw her cry.

"I'm what?"

Temari didn't say anything, instead concentrating on the pocket of his jacket. Shikamaru brought the hand that had been on her neck to grasp the one playing with the flap of the pocket, making her stop. He leaned his head closer to her and asked again, barely above a whisper, "I'm what?" He was sure she could feel his heart thundering against his chest despite the many layers separating his chest from her hand.

"You're…" Temari took a deep breath, steeling herself to reveal something she had never told anyone. "You're my first and only friend. And I refuse to lose that." She still wouldn't look at him. Damn him for making her feel so weak! Then a thought occurred to her, one that she knew would end this delirium that the typically logical Shikamaru had apparently entered.

Temari looked up at him sharply and whatever words she had meant to say died in her throat. Temari could feel herself start to slowly blush (again!) because Shikamaru was looking at her with so much love in his eyes that it almost hurt.

"You're not going to lose that," Shikamaru said gently. "You're not going to lose me. I won't ever let that happen." Somewhere in Shikamaru's mind he was shuddering at the nauseatingly sweet words that he never in his right mind thought he would say to anyone. But this thing with Temari was becoming unbearable and out of desperation he was willing to say whatever it was that she needed to hear. He had spent a large part of his life ignoring the fact that he wanted her because he refused to become one of those guys that pined after a girl and then when he and Temari had talked about having a relationship, he refused to say anything that revealed his true emotions because he did not want to be one of those guys who gushed over, of all things, a female. Even Temari had refused to acknowledge any sort of strong feelings for him.

Temari hesitatingly took the hand that wasn't in Shikamaru's grasp and brought it to his cheek preparing to ask him something she already knew the answer to. Shikamaru could feel his heart soar at the motion thinking that he had finally gotten through to her.

"Shikamaru, do you still want to get married and have kids?"

Or not.

Shikamaru knew very clearly what Temari's stance on those two subjects were. They had discussed it many times before and he had always thought that he could change her mind. His disappointment must have shown because Temari continued, "You need to be with someone that can offer those things to you. And I'm not that person."

"Why can't you be that person?"

"I don't want kids anytime soon Shikamaru!"

"Fine, we won't-" Shikamaru stopped suddenly. "Anytime… soon?" He asked slowly, with an odd sense of hope rising in his chest.

Temari's face changed immediately as she realized her blunder with a small part wondering why he had been so ready to agree to no children. "I mean ever! I don't ever want to have kids."

"But you've thought about it," Shikamaru said, gaping at her as if he had never seen her before. He had worked out all the possibilities of this discussion while he was waiting for her to arrive from Suna but he hadn't bothered to consider this one mostly because her stance on this had always been so absolute.

"Stop Shikamaru. Stop that thought process right now. I know what you're thinking and you need to stop."

Shikamaru ignored her, smiling down at her in amazement. "You've thought about it," he repeated, idiotically.

"I'm not moving to Konoha!" Temari exclaimed in desperation, trying to squelch any hope that he may have.

"Okay," Shikamaru said simply leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. "I'll move to Suna."

"You can't do that! You're the Nara clan leader. You can't! And your friends! And your village!"

"Hmm…" Shikamaru thought bringing his arms around Temari so he could hug her. "I'll think of something." Temari let herself be hugged for a moment before pushing him away again. Shikamaru frowned at her in annoyance, clearly not happy with her constant resistance, especially now that he was no longer touching her.

"You should've already thought of everything before bringing this inane topic up again."

Shikamaru smiled at her, "I love it when you get mad at me."

"What are you—we aren't done with this conversation! I didn't agree to anything!"

Shikamaru just continued to smile at her and Temari got the distinct feeling that he had already planned out this entire conversation and had a solution for any potential problem that she could think of and this whole time he had just been playing with her.

Then Temari had the daunting thought that the only thing Shikamaru had been unsure about was the possibility of children between them. And she had just given him hope. He wasn't telling her how they could possibly work out a relationship because he was too crazily happy that she had even thought about kids.

Fuck.

The situation was quickly getting out of hand and she needed to retreat immediately. Except she had the sinking realization that arguing from now on would be pointless. She could literally feel the atmosphere around them shifting.

"I'm not marrying you."

Shikamaru gave her an exasperated look. "Why are you being so pugnacious?"

"Pugnacious?! Is that seriously the first word that comes to mind?"

"Yes, and you know exactly what I mean."

"Well, if you want to be with me, then you better get used to it."

"Okay."

"But I'm still not marrying you," she said petulantly. And then added, after a pause: "Or having kids."

"What's wrong with at least marrying me? I already told you I'll move to Suna."

"Like your pathetic ass could stand the desert."

"Stop avoiding the question."

"Let's discuss this another time."

"No, let's discuss this now."

"Do you really want to start our relationship off with an argument?"

"We already did."

"Ugh, fine, do you already want to have a second argument two minutes into our relationship?"

"Well, it wouldn't be us if we didn't."

"You're impossible. Why am I agreeing to do this with you again?"

"If I remember correctly, you haven't actually agreed to anything yet."

Temari was about to make another flippant comment when she noticed that Shikamaru was giving her an apprehensive look.

He was nervous.

Ha! Well, she was glad that she could still keep him on his toes, Mr. I-have-an-IQ-over-200-and-have-already-thought-of-every-possible-scenario.

"This is a mistake," Temari said seriously.

"I don't care," Shikamaru said, just as seriously.

Temari thought about it for a moment as Shikamaru waited with baited breath. "I'll agree to date you, if you stop asking me about marriage."

Shikamaru recoiled slightly at that. He pursed his lips. Noticing the action, anger quickly filled Temari, "I'm risking losing you as a friend so you better make some damn compromises as well."

"I'm pretty sure I'm already doing that."

"What, by hypothetically moving to Suna and hypothetically being okay with not having kids?"

"And you're only going to hypothetically lose me as a friend."

Temari turned around clenching her fists. "I really hate you right now. You keep making me feel things that I don't want to feel. Do you really think pushing me further than I'm willing to go is a smart idea?"

"I know it's not. But we've been circling each other for ages and I want to be completely honest with you about my intentions."

Temari turned back around, "And I'm being completely honest about mine!"

Shikamaru scoffed, "No you're not."

Temari narrowed her eyes and glared at him dangerously, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"If you haven't figured it out, then I'm not going to tell you."

"Wow, you are doing a great job trying to win me over. Do really want me to date you or are you just trying to get me to kill you?"

"This isn't something that I can just tell you and then you'll merrily accept it. You need to figure it out yourself."

"What in the world are you even talking about?"

"You're too fucking scared to admit anything to yourself."

Admit what to herself? She shook her head. She knew that the situation was dire once Shikamaru started cursing and she didn't care. He was being a jackass.

"So you're calling me a coward, is that right?"

"Yeah, you're a coward."

Temari punched him. Shikamaru had seen it coming and had braced himself for the impact which only infuriated Temari even more. Her chest heaving, her face red, her hands clenched and her eyes flashing, she angrily brushed past him to enter the village. She was done with this.

Shikamaru turned around and grabbed her wrist before she could take another step.

"I'm sorry."

Temari took a few calming breaths with her eyes closed. Shikamaru dropped her wrist when he was sure she wasn't going to try to run off for a second time. When she opened her eyes again Shikamaru was standing in front of her.

"I'm sorry," he said again, when her gaze met his. "I'm sorry and I want to be with you no matter what it takes. So fine, I won't ask you to marry me. But I can't say that I won't ever ask you again. Just not for a long time." He wanted to continue but he stopped right there lest he started begging her. But Temari heard the words he couldn't say: Please tell me that's okay. Please just accept this much. Please give me hope.

Temari thought about it for a long moment. So long in fact that Shikamaru had started shifting his weight from left to right, placing his hands in his pockets because he was too afraid that he might try to touch her again and that would scare her away… again.

He couldn't even look at her since she was making him nervous. Her eyes hadn't left his face since he halfway agreed to her sole condition.

Finally, Temari nodded her head, "Okay," she said with a small voice, feeling completely exposed. Shikamaru turned his head sharply back to face her.

"I'm sorry I punched you." She shuddered, as if her body was actively rejecting such a foreign word.

Shikamaru didn't miss the scowl on her face when she apologized, covering up her short moment of vulnerability. "Is that the first time you've ever apologized to anyone?"

"Don't make me punch you again."

"As if you ever needed an excuse."

And then Temari gave him a smile so brilliant that he almost lost his breath. He then subsequently lost said breath when she leaned up to kiss him.

This time, the kiss was perfect.

Shikamaru was sure he had a goofy grin on his face from the memory. That was probably why Chouji kicked him. He had zoned out for quite a while there.

"What," he grumbled, not bothering to sit up straight but mustering up enough energy to glare at his best friend in annoyance across the table.

"I think Ino is having some trouble."

Shikamaru swiveled his head around to look at Ino sitting at the bar next to the target, trying to chat him up.

Shikamaru and Chouji were seated at a booth a few yards behind and a few feet above where the bar was located. A few steps down there were tables in an open area and then in front of the area with tables there was a stage for performers. Shikamaru sat facing the stage and Chouji sat with his back to it so he could watch the rear exits.

It looked like Ino was having trouble keeping the man's attention which frankly had never happened and Shikamaru could tell she was getting insulted over it. Great, now he was going to have to deal with an upset Ino on the way back home. Luckily, Chouji was around so for the most part, he would be able to tune her out.

The man was watching the stage intently, blatantly disregarding Ino's presence next to him. Well, Shikamaru thought bemusedly, that was new. But he really couldn't bring himself to be too concerned over it. Team 10 had always been good at reconnaissance sort of work. Generally, if Ino's flirtatious nature didn't work, she could always just use her mind-body switch. Shikamaru and Chouji weren't even really necessary except to make sure that Ino's body was free from harm.

Shikamaru followed the man's gaze to the stage and promptly sat up completely in his seat, spilling his drink over his hand having slammed it down on the table in surprise.

"What is it," Chouji asked in alarm, leaning over the side of the booth so he could look at whatever Shikamaru was looking at.

"Hey…" Chouji said, squinting his eyes so he could get a better glimpse of the performers on stage.

"Isn't that your girlfriend?"

-i-

AN: This was supposed to be a one shot... oh well.


End file.
